Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg – Producer Junzo Hosoi reflects on the game and successful 25 years of Atelier in our interview Interview

Not too long ago we had the opportunity to speak in an interview with Junzo Hosoi from Koei Tecmo and Gust. Last time we talked about Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key. Now Ryza has had her last summer adventure. But the upcoming arrival of Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg brings both fresh and familiar gaming experiences to the table. So, it is time for another round of interesting questions and answers with Junzo Hosoi. But not only did we have the opportunity to speak about the new game, the Atelier series is celebrating its 25th anniversary with production studio Gust. As a result, we discussed the past, present, and the forthcoming adventures of the franchise. Junzo Hosoi, we thank you for your time and effort answering our questions.

Producer Junzo Hosoi is our guest in this interview

© Junzo Hosoi | Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd.

ntower: Hello Mr. Hosoi, thank you for your time answering our questions for the German community again. The last time we spoke, the game Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key had been recently announced, and the upcoming release was near. Now, players worldwide can play this game and experience Ryza’s last adventure. Today, we’d like to talk about the newest installment of studio Gust: Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg. For readers who are new to the Atelier universe: Could you introduce yourself and your position at studio Gust, please?

Junzo Hosoi: I am Junzo Hosoi from KOEI TECMO GAMES. I am the Head of Gust, and over the past few years, I have mainly worked as the producer for the Atelier series. For the Atelier Marie Remake, I am involved in the project as the general producer.

ntower: The Atelier series has undergone quite a development in the last decade. Next to quite dark tones found in the stories of the Atelier Dusk series, there are more happy stories, like in the coming-of-age story of Ryza’s recent adventures. Marie is the main protagonist of this remake. What atmosphere can players expect with this game: Is it carefree and happy, or more serious? Can you give our readers an overview of Marie as a person and her struggles as a student?

Junzo Hosoi: The catchphrase of Atelier Marie is “I'm done saving the world”, and as it suggests, the story is not about saving the world or defeating some great evil, but rather about a girl's daily life in the city and how she becomes a successful alchemist and graduates from an academy. Therefore, the overall atmosphere of the story is carefree, idyllic, and relaxed.

The main character, Marie, is a tomboyish and careless girl. As a result of her constant failures in her alchemy studies, she gets the lowest grade ever in the academy she attends. However, Marie is not just a subpar student. With her natural brightness and perseverance in the face of adversity, she sometimes achieves results that those around her could never have dreamed of.

ntower: 25 years of Atelier means a quarter-century of engaging alchemy systems and interesting stories revolving around impressive alchemists. What sparked the idea to use Atelier Marie as a celebration of this big 25th Anniversary?

Junzo Hosoi: Well, thanks to the Secret series and other titles released between 2019 and 2023, the number of people interested in the Atelier series itself has increased significantly. We chose to remake Atelier Marie to convey the origin of the series to those who are not familiar with Atelier Marie.

The first entry of the Atelier series with a modern twist

© Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd.

ntower: In an earlier interview with Siliconera (2018) you stated “In that way, the Salburg series was probably influenced by my interest in children’s books and famous classics. The basis was »Anne of Green Gables«”. Atelier Marie Remake uses cute chibi-like character models with a toy-like environment. Are these mentioned children stories the main reason for using this kind of art style? Can you walk our readers through the process of deciding your style choice?

Junzo Hosoi: We are developing this game with the concept of a modern remake of the visual image of that time. Therefore, the style of mixing 2D illustrations and mini-characters used in the original work has been retained in this work. In fact, we were discussing the possibility of using full-size characters like those in the Atelier Ryza games, but we were concerned that this would give the impression of an RPG like the current Atelier games. Atelier Marie is more of a simulation game than the current Atelier games, so that kind of visual look would cause a gap in the perception of the game. That's why we thought it would be best to create a 3D version with characters scaled similarly to the original version.

ntower: Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg introduced the concept that atelier games are sorted in trilogies, mostly. The game is not only the first entry for the franchise but also the first entry for the Salburg series/trilogy. Are you planning to release remakes for the other two entries — Atelier Elie: The Alchemist of Salburg 2 and Atelier Lilie: The Alchemist of Salburg 3 —, too?

Junzo Hosoi: Of course, there is that possibility. It is one of our goals to have the entire Atelier series, starting with Atelier Marie to the latest title, available in the digital stores. We believe that the next “Atelier” will be created based on some of the comments we receive from those who play both past and recent titles.

ntower: The original Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg is quite an old lady compared to recent and more modern games. Are there any new gameplay elements you implemented to give the remake a more modern touch?

Junzo Hosoi: I think the most significant changes in the modern Marie is the “gathering” system. Gathering in the original version of Marie did not involve walking around the field, but rather choosing an option to obtain a random item. We thought that this would not be enough for people who enjoy the modern Atelier games, so we changed the specifications to a modern style of collecting where you walk around the field, making it easier to get the items you are looking for. The game balance has also been adjusted accordingly.

Cute character models discover the world of alchemy

© Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd.

ntower: In the game’s preview, I noticed that you use more detailed and anime styled character drawings in several dialogues. Why did you pick this kind of character representation in dialogs instead of making a cute character drawing that would be more fitting for the rest of the in-game design?

Junzo Hosoi: We are developing this game with the concept of remaking the visual images of the original in a modern way. In the original, Marie was a mini-character when walking around the field, but during conversation events, life-size character illustrations were used. Therefore, we chose to use life-size character illustrations during conversational events in this work as well.

ntower: Something I am wondering as a German citizen: For Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg you used an European setting. The Atelier series is filled with so many German words. Back in the day, while you developed the game the first time: Why did you choose this kind of setting and the usage of languages that are not Japanese?

Junzo Hosoi: According to Yoshiike-san, the director of the original version, the reason was simply that German pronunciation sounded cool.

© Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd.

ntower: Congratulations on 25 years of Gust and the Atelier series! How do you feel when you think about that, the series surpassed the 25 years mark?

Junzo Hosoi: The producer and director of the original Atelier Marie did not expect the series to continue this long when it was first released! We are also deeply moved by the fact that the Atelier series has actually come this far!

ntower: Are there any interesting plans how the team will celebrate this massive anniversary?

Junzo Hosoi: As part of the 25th anniversary of the series, we released Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream, Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key and now Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg. With Atelier Marie Remake it will mark the end of the 25th anniversary titles. Besides games, an anime of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout will start airing in July, so please look forward to it.

Carefree, funny and talented – Ryza is a deep character with a lot of development

© Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd.

ntower: In my research, I came across that you get your inspiration for stories from topics that move players at that time. What would you say is the topic that has a major influence on players today?

Junzo Hosoi: There are a lot of activity around the film adaptations of games such as Mario, Cyberpunk and The Last of Us, and I think they are positively received by a lot of players. For us, we have announced the anime version of Atelier Ryza, and we'd like to work even more vigorously towards many efforts where our games can be used as the source material.

ntower: I don't believe that Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg will be the end of the franchise’s road. In what direction is the atelier franchise heading next? For example, will the franchise continue to aim to release a new game every year?

Junzo Hosoi: While I cannot say anything specific right now, Gust will continue to produce new titles that will meet the expectations of players. We hope everyone will forward to the future development of the Atelier series.

ntower: Ryza is unquestionably a fan favorite. There are many reasons for this – how do you ensure that the interest in the Atelier series will continue to grow even when Ryza is no longer in the spotlight? What have you been able to learn from Ryza's impressive success?

Junzo Hosoi: After the Secret series, I think we need to keep brushing up the games themselves so that even more people will become fans of the game. We learned a lot from Ryza, but I still think we need to further pursue the point of making games easier to understand.

ntower: The big announcement that Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout is getting an anime adaptation made big waves and generated a lot of anticipation. Why did you decide to bring Atelier to the screens as an anime adaptation?

Junzo Hosoi: It's because I wanted to see Ryza appear in a different medium!

ntower: Many game publishers are also moving in the direction of smartphone games. With Atelier Online, you have already released a title for mobile devices. Are there any plans to explore this area further? What potential do you see in multimedia for the Atelier series in general?

Junzo Hosoi: We hope to bring the Atelier series to an environment where people can easily play the series on smartphones and other mobile devices.

The animated version of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout has been announced, and we feel that we can convey the appeal of the Atelier series to even more users by developing the series in various fields, and not just animation.

Atelier Online is a mobile app that brings all alchemists together

© Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd.

ntower: One point of criticism that our community keeps coming up with is the localization of JRPGs in Germany, which the Atelier series also falls under. More and more producers, even small indie studios, have started to provide German subtitles. What is your position regarding German subtitles? Don't you think that German subtitles would sustainably strengthen the appeal for games in this country?

Junzo Hosoi: We'd like to increase the number of fans of the Atelier series worldwide and add languages accordingly in order to do so, so we would therefore appreciate your support.

ntower: In the many years of growing the atelier universe, most of the popularity lies in Japan. What challenges did you face when you tried to make the franchise more popular in the west? What are the biggest differences in JRPG publishing between Japan and Western countries?

Junzo Hosoi: When it comes to the Atelier series, we focus on the representation of characters that appeal to users not only in Japan but also overseas. We also continually review and deal with internally to ways to improve localization quality. Since there are differences in culture and ways of thinking between Japan and the West, we get feedback from local people and make adjustments, but I think the essence of what's good is the same throughout the world, so we want to make sure we create and present what we think is interesting.

ntower: Is there anything else you want the German-speaking Fans to know?

Junzo Hosoi: The Atelier series has continued to expand in response to your support and feedback. As we continue to make improvements to the series, we are looking for your continued support and feedback! We hope you will eagerly wait for what's next from the Atelier series and Gust!

Thank you for your time and effort answering our questions.

Follow this link to find the German translation of this interview!

You can find our preview for Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg here!

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